Can we talk about it now? – the dictatorship through the lens of Brazilian cinema in the 1980s

Abstract

This article provides an overview of Brazilian films that in the 1980’s put at screen the military regime (1964-1985). In a context of political openness, when speaking more directly about the issue of repression and torture begins to be possible, the cinematographic approaches are still cautious and express concern about the yoke of censorship. The denunciation of the violence perpetrated under the authoritarian regime is present in most films, but the strategies adopted for the treatment of the subject are varied. Focusing especially on the issue of torture, we examine these different strategies and put at debate issues such as the assignment of responsibility for the violence, the audiovisual representation of the tortures and the ethical and aesthetic dilemmas involved in cinematographic approach of the horror, we also bring forward the question of the political problematic underlying the repression.